Saint Vincent College

A 2011 Saint Vincent College graduate, Zach Wilfong was named the Bearcats’ head men’s lacrosse coach in April 2020.

The first four years under Wilfong have been the Bearcats’ most successful in team history, as he has guided the team to a 44-17 overall record, and 22-6 mark in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play, with two trips to the PAC championship game.
 
During his inaugural 2021 season on the sidelines at his alma mater, Wilfong led Saint Vincent to a 9-3 record. Offensively, the team’s 13.9 goals and 47.3 shots per game ranked in the top three of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference while the SVC defense surrendered an average of just 7.8 goals per game and boasted the PAC’s top penalty-killing percentage at .830. Nine Bearcats earned All-PAC accolades, highlighted by a trio of first-team selections in midfielders Caleb Hawkins and Zack Novelli and defenseman Brody McMahon.
 
In 2022, Wilfong led the Bearcats to a 13-2 record and a berth in the PAC Championship game. The 13 victories marked the second most in a season in program history. Wilfong guided nine Bearcats to All-PAC honors, including four First Team selections in Jordan Billet, McMahon, Noah Sperling and Hawkins, while senior defenseman Ethan Cavin became the first player in program history to be named Scholar All-America by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.  The Bearcats outscored their opponents a combined 129-51, and finished the season as the NCAA Division III leader in team defense, surrendering an average of just 6.47 goals per game.
 
In 2023, he led the Bearcats to a 15-3 overall record with a 6-1 record in the PAC, earning a berth in the PAC Championship for the second season in a row. Wilfong guided nine Bearcats to All-PAC accolades for the second straight year as well, including the PAC Defensive Player of the Year, McMahon. Saint Vincent once again finished the season with one of the top defenses in the entire country, with McMahon becoming the first player in program history to earn USILA All-America honors.

The 2024 Bearcats won eight of their final 10 games of the regular season, including six wins in eight conference games, to again qualify for the PAC Championship Tournament, where they were downed in a back-and-forth battle in the semifinals. The Bearcats earned a team-record 10 All-PAC selections. Two players ended their stellar career by scoring more than 200 points, as Billet graduated as the third all-time leading scorer with 238 points and Hawkins, who was named Preseason All-America by Inside Lacrosse, graduated fifth on the all-time scoring list with 208 points. Additionally, Hawkins, Ben Wohlin and R.J. Kenna were named Scholar All-Americans by the USILA, and Kenna was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators.   
 
Prior to joining the SVC coaching staff, Wilfong served as head coach at La Roche University during the 2020 season. His influence was quickly felt, as the Redhawks went 2-2 in a 2020 season that was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It marked the best four-game start to the season for the Redhawks since 2013, while the two wins were already the most in a single season by a La Roche team since 2016.
 
Prior to his time at La Roche, Wilfong served as head coach of the men’s lacrosse club team at the University of Pittsburgh for the 2019 season. Six of his players earned All-Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC) honors, while he led the team to the quarterfinals of the CLC playoffs.
 
For the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Wilfong served as offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II power Seton Hill University. In 2017, he helped lead the Griffins to a 12-6 record and their first-ever Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) championship. A season later, the Griffins repeated as GMAC champs and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament for the first time in team history. Seton Hill finished the season with a 17-2 overall record, with Wilfong presiding over an offense that averaged 16.4 points per game to rank first in NCAA Division II.
 
In 2016, Wilfong was an assistant coach at Ohio Northern University, helping the Polar Bears to an 8-7 overall record in their first season of competition. He began his coaching career with a three-year stint as assistant coach at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School.
 
Wilfong remains one of the most decorated players in the history of men’s lacrosse at Saint Vincent College. As a senior in 2011, he became just the second player in team history to eclipse 200 career points and still ranks fifth all-time with 201. His 81 career assists rank fourth in team history and his 120 career goals are good for seventh. A three-year team captain for the Bearcats, Wilfong was the first player from Saint Vincent College ever selected to compete in the prestigious United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III North-South All-Star Game in 2011.
 
A native of Columbus, Ohio, he graduated from Saint Vincent in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He and his wife, Carly (Duffy), a 2012 SVC student-athlete graduate, reside in Pittsburgh’s North Hills and are the proud parents of daughters Emma and Olivia.  


COACH WILFONG - YEAR-BY-YEAR